This astounding lesson was given over on the last Shabbos Nachamu of Rebbe Nachman’s lifetime. During that Shabbos, Rebbe Nachman stated, “I don’t know anything at all.” Then, he began to teach this lesson, at the end of which he proclaimed, “!געוואַלט! קיין יֵאּוּשׁ אִיז גָאר נִיט פַאר הַאנְדִין—There is never a reason to despair!” As he said this, he drew out the word “!געוואַלט!” with incredible power and unbelievable depth, hinting to every person in all generations that he should never give up in any way, no matter what he’s going through. (See the entire story in Sichos HaRan, 153)
We should prepare our hearts and listen carefully to this piercing message, since it is essential to many areas of our lives, such as tefillah, kedushah, learning Torah, and so on. Even if we’ve already tried thousands of times and we haven’t seen any success, nonetheless, we should never give up. Instead, we make a brand-new start with whatever strength we have.
